Literary Analysis Of Mending Wall By Robert Frost

In “Mending Wall”, two neighbors are ironically united by the traditional rebuilding of the wall between them. A wall symbolizes boundaries, orders, and separation. Or does it? One of the two neighbors doesn’t seem to think so. “Good fences make good neighbors” is his motto. (Line 26) The neighbor doesn’t see how ironic it is that the wall is a meeting spot. He uses the wall as an excuse to talk with his neighbor, because he is not very open or conversational. The situational irony ostended by Robert Frost is that the wall between the two clashing neighbors is supposed to separate them. However, each year, when they meet to “walk the line”, the wall serves as a meeting spot for the two to catch up. (Line 12) Dividing, but unifying, Frost uses the wall to symbolize unity amongst clashing people. Without the situational irony of repairing the wall, the two incompatible neighbors would unlikely be able to unite.

“Mending Wall” by Robert Frost displays the seasonal routine of two neighbors who are constantly mending a wall which separates their

In his poem 'Mending Wall', Robert Frost presents to us the thoughts of barriers linking people, communication, friendship and the sense of security people gain from barriers. His messages are conveyed using poetic techniques such as imagery, structure and humor, revealing a complex side of the poem as well as achieving an overall light-hearted effect. Robert Frost has cleverly intertwined both a literal and metaphoric meaning into the poem, using the mending of a tangible wall as a symbolic representation of the barriers that separate the neighbors in their friendship.

However, when the responders’ delves deeper into the poem, it is clear that at a allegorical level the wall is a metaphor representing the barrier that exists in the neighbours’ friendship. The first eleven lines of the poem if rife with imagery that describes the dilapidation of the wall. The first line of the poem emphasises that “something” exists that “doesn’t love a wall”. This personification makes the “something” seem human-like. The use of words such as “spills” and “makes gaps” convey an image of animate actions and create a vivid impression of the degradation of the wall. Nature, presented in the form of cold weather, frost and the activities of creatures, also seeks to destroy the wall. The idea that walls are unnatural and therefore nature abhors walls is portrayed in the phrase “makes gaps even two can pass abreast”, which metaphorically indicates that nature desires for man to walk side by side with no barrier between them. When the two meet to fix the wall, it is a metaphor that could be interpreted as the two repairing their friendship as “To each the boulders have fallen to each” which shows that faults in their relationship lie on behalf of them both. While they are mending the wall, a light-hearted tone is established. This is shown through the inclusion of the metaphor “spring is mischief in me” which shows the neighbours having fun together in repairing the wall,

Another idea that came up during our discussion is the idea of introversion within the piece. I have always leaned towards being an introvert. I often like to wall myself off from others when I am feeling uncomfortable or not at my best. In the poem, Frost states, “To each the boulders that have fallen to each” (16). This line means that each person deals with his or her own problems. This idea is representative of my own way of thinking. I prefer to keep to myself. In my opinion, it is better to mind your own business than to nose your way into other people’s business. A similar idea of introversion earlier in the poem: “And on a day we meet to walk a line / And set this wall between us once again” (13-14). This is one of the few times that the two characters meet. It is ironic that one of their few interactions is to repair the fence that separates them in the first place. This expresses truly how alone people are as a result of hiding behind their boundaries. It is a representation of the introversion shown in both the poem and myself. I think that Frost’s intention with revealing this is to bring light to the loneliness of living behind a wall. Living behind a wall has its consequences and thus is not always good.

Undoubtedly, Mending Wall expressed the feeling of alienation through its character feelings and actions taken. This takes place in New England where Frost grew up the fence or walls that perimeter property lines were alone rocks stack up top of each other. Upon the writing of Mending Wall there was much controversy in the United State about the civil right movement. This poem was looked at as a civil rights piece, though the wasn’t Frost intentions. In the poem it says, “Before I built a wall I’d ask to know, What I was walling in or walling out.” (Mending Wall). The simple look at this poem is two men picking up rocks and stacking them to build the wall back up. Another way to look at is why build such a wall when every spring you know you have to do it again. Especially since the wall isn’t really keeping anything in or out because both farm own trees and the trees are just going to get up and walk away. Each farmer is in some form

He also uses other devices such as a pun, applied in the line, "And to whom I was like to give offence." The last word of the line simply emphasizes the importance of the subject, the fence. The most prominent figure of speech, however, is the ironic, "Good fences make good neighbors." This is completely opposite of the connotation of the poem. Fences do not make neighbors, but strangers that are apathetic towards each other. The neighbor seems to prefer this approach, to eliminate any risks of trespassing or offenses. Yet what the fence really does is hinder the development of friendship. This is comparable to the barriers of bitterness, anger, hate, and fear men put between one another that obstruct love and friendship.

The poem “Mending Wall”,by Robert Frost, is about two neighbors participating in their yearly tradition of mending their dividing wall on a spring day. During the process the speaker, the neighbor who has an apple tree, wonders why the yearly tradition must continue. The rebuttal of his neighbor, the neighbor who has pine trees, is the same throughout the entire poem. Given that Robert Frost only lets the reader see the thoughts of the speaker the intended audience is the entire world as a whole. Due to the symbolism of of the wall Frost wants to impact every person around the

Furthermore, to have wisdom and knowledge, righteousness allows one to opt for what is right or wrong. The act of being morally aware shapes an individual's character for the future. Therefore, having wisdom is all about having righteousness. To begin with, righteousness is a decision made individually of principles, without being influenced by outsiders. When Socrates comments about his sentencing, he says, "The difficulty, my friends, is not in avoiding death, but in avoiding unrighteousness; for that runs faster than death."

In Robert Frost’s poem, he used a broken physical wall between two neighbors, who both have differing thoughts on the boundary, to illustrate the varying barriers that humans put up between themselves and others.

While the narrator seems more willing to reach out to his neighbor, in the end, he does not. He does wonder why fences supposedly make good neighbors. For him, the question is what is he "walling in or walling out"? He seems to realize that he is "walling out" other people. As long as the symbolic wall stands between the neighbors, they will always be separated. Earlier in the poem, Frost uses the symbolism of a rabbit to seemingly reinforce this point. The hunters must destroy the wall in order to "have the rabbit out of hiding". The men, in turn must break down the walls between them if they are to come out of "hiding". The narrator seems to have a desire to point this out to his neighbor. However, he does not, simply dismissing his idea as "the mischief" that spring has instilled in him. He realizes that he is unable to communicate with his neighbor in any meaningful fashion and, thus, remains in isolation from him.

Frost uses the phrase “Mending Wall” to show that the relationship between the narrator and the neighbor is not being repaired. The poem focuses on two men who meet amongst a wall to stroll and make repairs. The narrator feels that the wall shouldn’t be there. He states that, “...We do not need the wall: He is all pine and I am apple orchard, my apples will never get across.(Frost) On the other hand, the neighbor feels that the wall is needed and simply states that, “

          In the poem, “The Mending Wall” Frost creates a lot of ambiguity in order to leave the poem open for interpretation. Frost’s description of every detail in this poem is very interesting, it leaves the reader to decide for themselves what deductions they are to be making of the poem. To begin with, Frost makes literal implications about what the two men are doing. For instance, they are physically putting the stones back, one by one. Their commitment and constant drive shows how persistent these men seem about keeping the wall intact. On the other hand, there are inferences that something deeper is occurring.